Patriots Deflate-Gate?

[HAWKAMANIA]

The Patriots are going to spin it and pretend they didn't notice which is a load of bull. Maybe the ref didn't notice when ever he spotted the ball, but I wouldn't put it past the refs to turn a blind eye either. What's worse is Tom Brady, who handled over a thousand snaps from the center in this season alone couldn't tell the ball was under-inflated? Yeah, riiiight. I'm sure his receivers knew, guys like Gronkowski and Edelman who combined for around 200 receptions this season. The center, who handled all those snaps throughout his career couldn't tell? You know who could tell though, Colts LB D'Qwell Jackson who, in his 9 year career, has only touched the football 14 times. 14 times in 9 years and he could tell they were under-inflated! The most discouraging part of this whole situation is that none of the Patriots players, not Brady, not Gronk, Edelman, Amendola, Stork (the center), Blount, whoever may have noticed, decided to come forward to the team, or the officials to protect what little integrity this sport has left. Did it affect the outcome of the game? Probably not. But the fact that they did it BECAUSE THEY FELT they needed that slight edge over their opponent speaks volumes about the character of their players and their staff.

 

[253hawk]

2 PSI is a huge difference; the ball is a bit squishier and easier to catch (and grip in general.) Especially in pissing-down-rain weather like it was. You can stop a bullet pass with your finger tips instead of having it try to deflect away from the pressure.

The fact that a LB on the other team noticed it immediately (which prompted the check) and Brady flat-out lied and called it 'ridiculous' speaks volumes. They not only cheated, they lied about it when caught. And nothing will probably happen...

 

[huskylawyer]

The tweets are priceless right now:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/IGpanthernation/status/557759006878748675[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/557773722485268480[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/merlisa/status/557767471852421121[/tweet]

 

[Chosen1]

I hate the "meh" POV that this wouldn't have changed the outcome of the AFC Championship. Think about it this way... If we'd cheated in the same fashion vs the Packers, I could argue that Russ would've thrown two fewer INTs. Those pop-ups off Kearse don't happen. Completely different game.

How many passes might've skimmed through or popped up off the hands of Pats WRs if the balls were properly inflated? They rushed the ball 40 times without a fumble. Deflated balls = HUGE (game-changing) ball security advantage. This is a BIG deal and the Pats should be punished accordingly (after we kick their ass in XLIX).

 

[TAB420]

It doesn't matter if it effected the outcome or not, it's cheating...Period.

 

[Vetamur]

11 out of 12 balls were 2 pounds underweight.

11 out of 12.

All the same amount underweight.

 

[Pats fan1]

As a Pats fan, part of me feels like the wind has been taken out of my sails. I'm disappointed and also not surprised. I think the sense of Patriot Nation and Boston sports media is: "Here we go again." And "How can Belichick do this to us again?"

I've read and heard very little excuses from Pats fans.

I think the Super Bowl should go on and be played. And wait till after the season to issue out the punishment.

The proper punishment should be...
1.) Fine either the coach or team or both.
2.) Take away the Pats' first round draft pick.
3.) Suspend Belichick for part of the season or entire season.

"IF" this was only the Pats doing this and no other teams were deflating their footballs and no refs are involved in this then I'm probably done with the Pats and won't wear any Pats' jersey's or hats ever again.

 

[amill87]

If this is true, the Pats would not be at fault. Read the rulebook: http://static.nfl.com/static/content/pu ... 3_Ball.pdf

IMPOSSIBLE to sneak in 30+ deflated balls past the officials.

Also, both teams would have been playing under the same conditions. Would not have been an advantage.

Non issue.

Whoops. Guess it was possible.

I'm shocked the league let this out but all that will come is a slap on the wrist

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

If this is even legit I don't want the league screwing with NE before the Super Bowl. If there is some sort of punishment that crap needs to wait until next season.

No knee jerking please. Just get the facts and details straight before doing anything. The game is less than 2 weeks away and that is not enough time to give it proper consideration.

I don't even care. A couple pounds of air? Whatever.

That sounds like Dallas fans after Romo choked the snap.

New England is a bad ass team, deflated balls are the least of my concerns.

Uninfortunately 2 lbs. of psi is huge in a bad weather game and pretty much requires an 80 degree drop in temperature to even be possible without flat out cheating.

 

[Pats fan1]

Pats better win this Super Bowl now. There reputation is on the line. Whether or not the Pats win the SB people will claim they cheated no matter what.

BUT.....but if they do win you can no longer bring up the "Spy Gate" thing because the Pats proved they can win a SB without the "cameras." And we know the media and NFL will put extra emphasis on securing the footballs before this SB and the national media will be watching the football case like a hawk so if the Pats win this SB it proved they won without deflating over inflating footballs.

I think Belichick will use this as motivation to get his players even more motivated for this game to prove a point. This will light a fire under them...

Or they'll be so distracted by the national and international media coverage with 20 microphones and cameras in their faces all week it demoralizes them, takes their attention and focus away from the game and they play unprepared, they're not focused on the game and lose.

Or, at the end of the day the Seahawks are the better team and win no matter what.

 

[Pats fan1]

Repost here...

If the Pats wouldn't have used those questionable "eligible/non-eligible" play formations against the Ravens and wouldn't have beat the Ravens and if the Pats wouldn't have played the Colts and wouldn't have beat the Cotls I bet you none of this would have been reported or exposed.

The problem is the Colts and Ravens have serious hate for the Pats. It's personal.

If the Pats would have beaten the Chargers or Bengals or Browns if they were met in the playoffs I highly doubt anything would have been reported.

After the Ravens/Pats game there were reports that coach Harbaugh and coach Pagano contacted each other to talk about "things."

It's almost as if the Colts knew they would lose this game and instead of game planning to try to beat the Pats they showed up as detectives to try to find anything they could to catch the Pats.

 

[Blitzhawk]

The thing is everybody knows the chances of somebody being caught doing wrong the first and only time is very low. Thiefs and criminals always claim it was the first time and they learned their lesson in court. Same goes for people busted for DUII yet we all know they no doubt have been getting away with bad things for a long time and finally got caught. So, really, who thinks this is the first time they tried this and got caught?

This is not the first time Bad Billy has been caught with his hand in the cookie jar either. Even his trickery use of the rule book is pretty edgy and morally questionable at best exploiting rules for other than their intent. While he did follow the rule book fairly closely w/ the eligible player reporting rule, Brady did rush to the line and quicksnap the ball before the D was given the time the rule says they should be allowed to adjust. I blame the refs for not stepping in and holding up the play and identify the eligible/ineligible players as they should but Bad Billy did use the confusion of the situation to setup the officials.

These discovered little examples of shady crooked behavior is extremely disrespectful to the integrity of the game at minimum and down right criminal if you think of what he probably got/gets away with undiscovered.

 

[Pats fan1]

There are rumors that the Colts knew about these "deflated footballs" during the Colts/Pats regular season game or after that regular season game. So I bet you Pagano and Jim Irsay wanted to wait to leak this to the media at the biggest game for them to embarrass the Pats. They sat on this info.

 

[bmorepunk]

There are rumors that the Colts knew about these "deflated footballs" during the Colts/Pats regular season game or after that regular season game. So I bet you Pagano and Jim Irsay wanted to wait to leak this to the media at the biggest game for them to embarrass the Pats. They sat on this info.

If that's true it's almost as funny as Jeff Fisher sending the players the Rams drafted with RG III picks out for the coin toss during the Washington game.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

It's almost as if the Colts knew they would lose this game and instead of game planning to try to beat the Pats they showed up as detectives to try to find anything they could to catch the Pats.

Stop cheating and you won't have to worry about this stuff.

IMO it's not a big deal, but I'm pissed because now all the networks are talking about your dumb team cheating again instead of a great SB matchup with my Hawks.

 

[Pats fan1]

It's almost as if the Colts knew they would lose this game and instead of game planning to try to beat the Pats they showed up as detectives to try to find anything they could to catch the Pats.

Stop cheating and you won't have to worry about this stuff.

IMO it's not a big deal, but I'm pissed because now all the networks are talking about your dumb team cheating again instead of a great SB matchup with my Hawks.

Bucs QB Johnson paid to have footballs altered before SB 37...
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bucs/bucs ... 37/2214490

Tell your local media to report on your teams cheating and stop covering it over and stop obsessing over the Patriots.

It's wide spread systemic. Many fans know this, many coaches know this, may refs and former officials know this.

Funny how former NFL coaches said they would video tape and do all other things like Jimmy Johnson admitted, but people just want to focus and obsess over the Patriots and hold them to different standards than other teams.

Former NFL official Mike Pereira says it's cheating but it goes on in the league...
http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/ ... -1.9829649

I wouldn't be surprised if the NFL comes out either later this week and in the next coming months we're going to get reports showing many teams are doing this.

 

[Pats fan1]

If it's found out that this is wide spread systemic through out the NFL then the Colts owe the NFL and fans an apology for singling out the Pats and selfishly wanting to tarnish the Super Bowl for their own personal vendetta they have against the Pats.

Another example of: "Everyone is allowed to cheat except the Pats."

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Tell your local media to report on your teams cheating and stop covering it over and stop obsessing over the Patriots..

This is not how it works, you know that.

The press feeds on this kind of stuff, because it gets eyeballs on their sites, papers and broadcasts.

You seem to think it's some personal vendetta against the Patriots, and it's not. Any team caught doing this would be getting this much press. Just so happens it's your team that got caught..........again.

 

[kidhawk]

If it's found out that this is wide spread systemic through out the NFL then the Colts owe the NFL and fans an apology for singling out the Pats and selfishly wanting to tarnish the Super Bowl for their own personal vendetta they have against the Pats.

Another example of: "Everyone is allowed to cheat except the Pats."

OR maybe the Patriots should stop at the line when they are pushing rules instead of crossing those lines. What a novel concept huh?

 

[vonstout]

It's almost as if the Colts knew they would lose this game and instead of game planning to try to beat the Pats they showed up as detectives to try to find anything they could to catch the Pats.

Stop cheating and you won't have to worry about this stuff.

IMO it's not a big deal, but I'm pissed because now all the networks are talking about your dumb team cheating again instead of a great SB matchup with my Hawks.

Bucs QB Johnson paid to have footballs altered before SB 37...
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bucs/bucs ... 37/2214490

Tell your local media to report on your teams cheating and stop covering it over and stop obsessing over the Patriots.

It's wide spread systemic. Many fans know this, many coaches know this, may refs and former officials know this.

Funny how former NFL coaches said they would video tape and do all other things like Jimmy Johnson admitted, but people just want to focus and obsess over the Patriots and hold them to different standards than other teams.

Former NFL official Mike Pereira says it's cheating but it goes on in the league...
http://www.newsday.com/sports/football/ ... -1.9829649

I wouldn't be surprised if the NFL comes out either later this week and in the next coming months we're going to get reports showing many teams are doing this.

The teams are given the balls so they can scuff them up or do whatever they want to them as long as they pass inspection by the refs before the game. There is nothing wrong with that. Taking the balls after the final inspection and deflating them is flat out cheating. The kicking balls aren't scuffed up because they want them to be slick, which can cause problems for the other team when they try to catch the ball. I don't believe what Brad Johnson did violated any rules. Not so for Belicheat.

Your second link talks about cheating in the league in general and how they addressed things in the past. This is the first time anyone has been caught deflating the football as far as I know. And it's the second time the Pats have done it in the playoffs. There's no way they can make them forfeit the AFCCG because it would be too difficult, but they should suspend Belicheat for the SB and next year and take away draft picks next year. The fines they hand out don't mean squat to these guys. They've already proved that from Sypgate.